Computer Viruses Names

Avast's virus lab relies on robust community

Seemingly random names are embossed on the interior glass walls of the Avast offices and conference rooms in its Prague headquarters, and the June morning light shines illuminates them from behind. Written in black, these names and the orange-colored names of cities below them are in fact the forum nicknames of the people who use Avast and the cities they originate from. It appears there are Avast users on every continent on Earth, and that, said the company's CEO Vincent Steckler, is by design.

"Two-thirds of new users come from personal recommendations," he said. "Trying to get 35 million users from direct marketing is nearly impossible, so we have to rely on the community." Originally from the United States but living in Prague since he took over as Avast's chief officer in July 2009, Steckler is a numbers man. He touts the raw numbers of Avast's achievements with a pride that most parents reserve for a straight-A report card from their kids.

He gleefully told CNET that Avast can boast 29 countries with at least 1 million active users each. He pointed to Brazil having just passed France as the country with the most Avast active users, both with 12 percent. The United States is in third with 8 percent, but that Americans lead with the most Avast paid-upgrade installs. Five percent of its actives are in Russia, which Steckler said puts the country fourth on Avast's list and gives the company more active users there than the Moscow-based Kaspersky.

"We have about 1 million users per employee," Steckler noted. Avast's Brand Manager Miroslav Jirku quipped. "This is the first marketing job in my career that I don't have a marketing budget."

A former senior vice president of sales for Symantec, the makers of Norton, Steckler said that Avast has about 20 million more active users than its nearest competitor, AVG, because "there is no difference in malware protection between free and paid."

How Avast builds protection
More so than any third-party efficacy test, Avast relies on its reputation with users to fuel its growth. On CNET's Download.com, the free version of Avast is the only program with a 4.5-star rating from readers with more than 10,000 votes. Jindrich Kubec, Avast's director of antivirus research, said that to keep individuals safe Avast must deal with the same problem that all antivirus vendors struggle with. "The one single biggest challenge is the number of samples every day. This is the biggest challenge for everyone in the industry.

Computer Virus Hoaxes – What To Do With These ... - My Name Is Comp

Computer users are advised to take the same level of precaution when dealing with computer virus hoaxes as they do with real viral threats. This false information is propagated through a chain email that contains a message of warning regarding a supposed a virus that is potentially dangerous to one’s computer or system. The object of the said email is to compel the reader to action with regards to the potential threat by forwarding the email message to everyone they know.

Although there is no real danger posed by these computer virus hoaxes, many have fallen into this trap. Aside from encouraging the recipient to be cautious about a particular virus that could harm their system, most of these chain e-mails contain a list of instructions that a user must perform if they wanted to get rid of the virus themselves. It typically involves deleting a particular system file off the computer in what is supposedly a step taken to eliminate the virus. In most cases, the victim realizes too late that such action only causes damage to their computer and not get rid of the virus.

Due to the serious nature of the matter, it is important for computer users to learn to identify computer virus hoaxes. The content of the email is often sensational with the intent of compelling the reader into action, although the consequences discussed in the message seem exaggerated. This is intentionally done to incite fear in the reader’s mind. Also, do not be tricked when they use reputable organizations or companies since this is done to build credibility to the message of warning.

Users are encouraged to look at leaked out virus hoaxes in the past as a way to understand how they work. Dylan Nicholas’ Antichrist virus hoax was highly popular because it was claimed to be developed by both McAfee and Microsoft. It was most famous for its sensational use of subject line and those who fell victim to it resulted in damage to the zeroth sector of their computers.

The Invitation attachment virus was also much talked about when it first came out in 2006. It was created by Jim Flanagan wherein it warned users of the danger that the Olympic Torch virus would cause on their computer. Any email that contained the invitation attachment are said to introduce a virus into the system, or so the hoax claims.

The best step to take when dealing with computer virus hoaxes is to delete emails containing them. Avoid sending the email to other users because it could facilitate in the achievement of the creator’s malicious propaganda. Instead, warn people about the common characteristics of a virus hoax to put an end to such activities.

Computer Viruses

Computer viruses, dealing with electronic vandalism and programmed threats

Security+ exam guide

Defend Your Data! ICSAâ€TMs Guide to Data Recovery

Microcomputer security